BRICKER STARTS OFF STRONG FOR AUBURN AT GEORGIA DIVING INVITATIONAL

ATHENS, Ga. The Auburn men's and women's diving teams began competition at the Georgia Diving Invitational here Friday with freshman Matt Bricker taking second on the 3-meter in the first of the three-day event.

Bricker scored a 536.05 in the prelims standing in first place and went on to a 532.20 in the finals with a second place finish.
“Overall I was pleased with the progress Matt has made and the corrections from this morning's prelims,” head coach Jeff Shaffer said. “Phillip Jones from Tennessee took first today and that is a dual that will go on for four years here. Both Matt and Phillip competed against each other at the Junior and Senior Nationals level and they will keep things interesting.”
On the women's side, sophomore Ashley Rubenstein finished second in the 1-meter prelims with an impressive score of 265.45 and went on to a seventh-place finish in the finals with a score of 249.40.
“Ashley had a great prelim today,” head diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. “Unfortunately, her knee isn't as strong as she hoped yet and she fell to seventh in the finals. She is diving very well right now though.”
Rounding out the competition for the Auburn women was freshman Rachel Korth, who finished the 1-meter event in 14th place (213.55).
“Rachel keeps getting better with every meet,” Shaffer said. “She works hard and has a strong will and conviction and it is starting to pay off. I am very pleased with her progression this year.”
Sophomore Andrew Sivulka just missed the finals of the 3-meter event with a 13th-place finish and a score of 443.00.
Auburn diver Caesar Garcia is expected to sit out the weekend event due to an injury in practice earlier this week where he hit his head on the springboard and had to get five staples.
The invitational will continue through Sunday afternoon with the men's 1-meter and women's 3-meter on Saturday and the platform on Sunday.